This invention relates to reel cores for winding lengths of wire, cord, tubing, or similar rope-like articles thereon to be stored, transported, or dispensed. More particularly, this invention relates to reel cores having central hub sections with end flanges to retain the rop-like material wound on the barrel surface of the hub section.
Reels may range in size from several feet in diameter and weighing several hundred pounds for use in holding coils of steel suspension or electrical cable, down to fractions of an inch in diameter and fractions of an ounce in weight for holding thread, ribbon, or tape.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 200,936 discloses a conventional reel assembly used with magnetic recording tape. The patent shows a central hub section and two end flanges located at each end thereof, with each end flange having a substantially greater diameter than the central hub. The central hub has an axle bore through its center as well as three equilaterally spaced drive-sprocket apertures. The end flanges are molded as unitary components of the central hub. The tape is wound onto the barrel surface of the reel hub between the flanges and tangentially to the barrel surface as the hub is rotated at moderate to high speeds. The flanges taper inwardly so that each layer is aligned uniformly to prevent stress and friction. To wind some products onto larger reels at slower speeds, however, it is more practical to coil the product onto the reel core by laying the product onto a horizontal flange and around the hub from the side, and then later attached the second flange.
Typical reel assemblies may be as simple as a wooden spool for sewing thread, or more complex, such as the reel hub contained in the video tape cannister disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,154,193 in which the end flanges are also the sides of the cannister and the central hub serves as a high impact locking mechanism to secure the cannister together into a dust-tight, shock-proof container.
Reels are a particularly useful and inexpensive means for storing, transporting, and dispensing many items such as wire, cable, rope, cord, plastic and metal tubing, hose, adhesive or non-adhesive tapes, webbing, ribbon, and the like. The reels upon which these products are delivered, marketed, and subsequently dispensed often dually serve as take-up reels to collect the continuous lengths of such rope-like products as they are being manufactured.
For wire and tubing products, cardboard or fiberboard flanges are usually stapled, glued, or fastened with tabs to aluminum, wood, or plastic hubs. In some instances, the hub portion itself is formed from the same sheet material as the flanges, with flaps extending from the ends of the hub which are inserted through slots in the flanges, folded over, and fastened. It is sometimes more practical to enclose the hub inside a cardboard carton which will also function as the display packaging and dispenser. Depending upon whether the product is to be wound onto the face of the rotating hub or coiled from the side, one or both flanges or the carton may be attached before or after the product has been placed on the reel hub.
Despite the wide variety of reel designs, the great number of different uses to which reels are applied, and the total number of those reels which are currently in use at any given time, there remain some significant problems and limitations common to existing reel designs.
As they are currently manufactured, inexpensive reels used for collecting and dispensing electrical wire and other building materials are generally treated as being disposable. Although they function both as takeup reels, packaging cartons, and dispensers, they are designed to function with only one type, size, and character of product. In that respect, they cannot be considered reusable, multifunctional, or capable of interchangable uses. Because they are not designed to be reused, they are not readily refillable with new product or with a product different than the original, and they are often not strong enough to be used repeatedly. The packaging cartons may often be damaged or rendered unusable when they are opened, or refilling the reel might require destroying the packaging carton to gain access to the reel hub. If a wood, plastic, or metal hub is used, this disposability of the reel hub becomes wasteful.
The flanges may not be replaced separately if they become damaged. They interfere with attempts to smoothly remove the rope-like product from the side of the hub, particularly when the reel is laid horizontally on the ground and the user must occupy both hands working with the product. Also, the flanges are generally of one fixed size, shape, and material which cannot be varied by the user. Furthermore, both flanges on the reel are generally of the same type and size. If the original quantity of product is great and the flanges are acordingly large, the user is faced with carrying, handling, and storing the large flanged reel even when only a small amount of product remains on the reel.